Australian burger chain settles dispute with Crocodile Dundee actor

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian burger chain Grill’d has paid A$20,000 ($15,640) to actor Paul Hogan and a charity to settle a dispute over the use of one the “Crocodile Dundee” actor’s most famous lines, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Hogan filed a lawsuit against the restaurant group in the Federal Court in December, accusing Grill’d of “misleading or deceptive conduct” by associating themselves with the Hogan brand without consent.

Grill’d had used a variation of the line “That’s not a knife...that’s a knife” from the 1986 movie “Crocodile Dundee” on the paper sleeves covering its knives.

Hogan both co-wrote and starred in “Crocodile Dundee”, the tale of an Australian bushman at home in the outback who finds himself a fish out of water in New York.

The movie was a commercial and critical hit, garnering the Australian actor a Golden Globe Award for best actor and an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay.

Hogan’s lawyer, Andrew Richardson, told Reuters that Grill’d had agreed to withdraw the controversial sleeves at all their outlets, pay Hogan A$10,000 for his legal costs, and donate another A$10,000 to the charity Cure Cancer Australia.

“We are pleased to have settled this issue with Paul Hogan and proud to donate the money to Cure Cancer, and such a worthwhile cause,” Grill’d director Simon Crowe said in emailed statement.

Hogan, a longtime supporter of Cure Cancer Australia, said the donation was chosen because cancer is one of the country’s leading causes of death.

“We need to do everything we can to support Australia’s brilliant emerging scientists,” he said in a statement posted on the charity’s website.

Hogan popped up in a spoof trailer for a remake of the original movie, alongside current Australian stars in Hollywood Chris Hemsworth and Margot Robbie, during Sunday’s U.S. Super Bowl. The ad was part of Tourism Australia’s multimillion dollar campaign in the United States.